All those who at least once saw this giant snake can confirm that this meeting is rather unpleasant, especially if it happens unexpectedly. The only desire that arises at that moment is to bounce as far as possible and not see this monster. However, this snake is ranked among the most beautiful, differing in such monstrous sizes.
The article provides information about the largest snakes on the planet - anaconda and reticulated python.
Snake Overview
It should be noted that human fears about snakes are greatly exaggerated. After studying their behavior, we can conclude that the probability of dying in traffic accidents and other incidents is much higher than from a bite of a poisonous snake. Of course, there are representatives among such reptiles who evoke fear and horror, although they are not poisonous. This is especially true for the largest in size individuals.
What is the largest snake on earth? The longest and largest snake is considered to be a reticulated Asian python. In a natural environment, it reaches unthinkable sizes, while having a weight equal to 1.5 centners.
Python or anaconda?
In fact, the first place will rightly be divided between the Asian reticulated python and the giant anaconda. It is still impossible to say with accuracy which of them is the largest snake on Earth.
Both snakes can pose a rather serious danger to humans. To date, two reliable cases of cannibalism of these animals are known. For the first time, a 14-year-old boy was the victim of the python, and the second time was an adult woman. However, it should be noted that, rather, both cases are an exception than the rule, since this species of snake rarely attacks prey that it cannot swallow.
What is the size and weight of the mesh python? Theoretically, in natural habitats, these snakes can grow up to 12 meters in length, while having 150 kilograms of weight. However, in fact, only a single giant python living in the Philadelphia Zoo can be accurately measured. Its length is one meter less than the anaconda contained in the Zoological Society in New York.
Briefly from the story
The history of the planet says that earlier there were real giant snakes, which zoologists called titanoboa. The largest snake on Earth is a real monster that could easily swallow a whole crocodile. It reached 14 meters in length with a weight of more than a ton, and lived in South America about 58 million years ago.
It is known that this snake was not poisonous, but it killed with its powerful physical force, squeezing prey with a huge body.
After the extinction of the dinosaurs, Titanoboa still existed for about 10 million years. At that time, it was the largest predator on Earth.
Mesh python
The size of a snake in its natural habitat, as noted above, reaches up to 12 meters in length. The weight of an individual is not more than 150 kilograms.
Reticulated python is not a poisonous snake (family of pythons). It got its name due to the complex pattern on the body, including a chain of rhomboid light spots located in the middle of the back, as well as interconnected dark triangular spots (they are light on the sides). The scales of the snake have a strong rainbow tint, the head is light.
Damage to prey during a bite is caused by pointed and bent teeth, thanks to which pythons hunt and protect their territory perfectly. As a result of skirmishes, opponents have terrible lacerations. This variety of this reptile squad is called by many a killing machine.
It should be noted that the reticulated pythons of small islands are much smaller in size than the mainland relatives and individuals living on the larger islands. It is reliably known that the largest mesh python held in captivity is a female named Samantha. Its length was about 7.5 meters. She was caught in Borneo and died in 2002 at the Bronx Zoo in New York.
Distribution, habitat and lifestyle
The considered species of snakes is widespread in Southeast and South Asia. The habitat of the python covers the territories of Burma, India, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, etc.
Where reticulated python lives, tropical forests and light forests grow. You can meet these reptiles on the mountain slopes. There is a known case when a snake was found in Java, at an altitude of up to 1200 meters above sea level.
Mostly python has a terrestrial lifestyle, but he also climbs trees well. It prefers moist areas and often settles along the banks of rivers and other bodies of water. He swims well, and can swim in the open sea. Hunting is mainly carried out at night and at dusk, in the daytime it is in shelters (for example, in caves).
Food and enemies
What do reticulated pythons eat? The diet includes a variety of vertebrates: monkeys, small ungulates, birds, rodents, reptiles, etc. Quite often, they attack domestic animals such as goats, pigs, dogs, and poultry. As a rule, young goats and pigs weighing up to 15 kg become victims, however, there are cases when pythons ate animals heavier than 60 kg. Hunting is also carried out for bats, and the reptile catches them right in flight. The python can catch its tail on the bumps in the walls and ceiling of the cave.
As for natural enemies, the most famous are Siamese and combed crocodiles, as well as false gavials. Crocodiles prey on snakes of various sizes. As a rule, net pythons are absent in those places where Komodo lizards live, which was the result of a rather active predation of the latter in relation to pythons. King cobras, striped monitor lizards and feral dogs can sometimes eat young snakes.
Giant anaconda
The largest snake can be considered an anaconda (giant or green) up to 10 meters long. Its weight can reach up to 220 kilograms.
In the USA (New York), the terrarium of the zoological society contains the largest anaconda weighing 130 kilograms and a length of about 9 meters. The largest individual in length was recorded in 1944. Its length was 11 meters and 43 cm. It was measured by a geologist, who was looking for gold in the Colombian jungle at that time. The currently recognized record in the Guinness Book is 12 meters. In fact, today the average length of this variety of snakes is 6 meters. Larger individuals are extremely rare in nature.
Anaconda habitats
One of the largest snakes on Earth lives in the backwaters of the Amazon and in the tropics of South America. Despite the huge number of legends and films about this species of snakes, the anaconda is not so terrible for humans, as isolated cases of attack have been recorded.
The diet of the snake is made up of small and medium-sized mammals, which it smothers with its body, and then swallows. While the prey is digested (within a few days), the snake in solitude quietly slumbers.
Due to the fact that anacondas live in places inaccessible to humans, their exact number is very difficult to establish.
Some interesting facts
Anacondas, pythons are undoubtedly the largest snakes in the world. Somehow it was rumored that on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, in the jungle, a huge snake was found - a python. Its length was 14.8 meters, with a weight of 447 kilograms. After this reptile was caught, he was sent to the reserve, where he was given the name - Guihua. However, this python, which was once reported in many media, actually turned out to be almost 2 times less.
The largest snake in captivity since birth is the anaconda Medusa. Its weight is 135 kilograms, with a body length of 7.62 meters. This is a well-known animal can be seen in the movie "Anaconda." Today, the snake lives with its owner Larry Elgar, feeding his pet mice (18 kg weekly). He trains the ward, realizing that anacondas can swallow people. However, he believes that Medusa is not capable of this due to the fact that she has been kept in captivity for a long time next to people, and has long lost her instincts. The only two things she does with pleasure are sleeping and eating.
